With nearly 1.5 million Pennsylvanians unemployed as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the House voted this week for legislation that would require transparency and consistency in how the governor determines which businesses can continue to operate.

Senate Bill 613 would not immediately or fully reopen the state’s economy. Instead, it would simply allow businesses that can comply with federal mitigation guidelines to resume operations and bring people back to work safely. Small businesses and their employees, self-employed workers, independent contractors and others should be given the opportunity to modify their operations and return to work. This would also allow them to continue providing for their families.

While we must continue to take the threat of COVID-19 seriously and do all we can to protect against its spread, we need to start taking steps now to plan a path forward for workers, business owners and the economy as well.

The Senate also approved the bill this week and it is now awaiting action by the governor.

Other Legislative Action
Also this week, the House supported legislation – Senate Bill 841 – that would allow local governments to extend property tax discount periods and/or waive penalties or late fees, protect educational opportunities for low-income students by allowing educational tax credit contributions to be delayed until the end of the business tax year, save school districts money by allowing various contracts to be renegotiated for the period of the school closure, allow for remote notary services and authorize local governments to meet through authorized telecommunications devices for the duration of the COVID-19 emergency declaration. This bill is awaiting action by the governor.

We also adopted a bill to help our vital emergency responders. House Bill 1189 would establish the Volunteer Emergency Responders Employer Tax Credit program for employers who allow an employee who serves with a volunteer emergency service organization to respond to an emergency call during work hours. The bill also would extend disability benefits for first responders to be covered in the event they contract COVID-19 in the line of duty.

To help better track cases of COVID-19, the bill would require health care facilities to provide specific demographic data about positive tests within three days of a diagnosis. The state Department of Health would then be required to publish publicly accessible reports with case statistics broken down by ZIP code.

Finally, the bill would extend the expiration of driver’s licenses, vehicle registrations and parking placards for people with disabilities that are set to expire during the disaster declaration to 60 days after the declaration has ended.

House Bill 1189 is pending action in the Senate.

Unemployment Compensation Update

The state has started to implement portions of the federal CARES Act changes to the unemployment compensation system. The good news is, some claimants started to receive the extra $600 per week in compensation required under the law this week. The bad news is the state Department of Labor and Industry has not yet made available the application for self-employed workers and independent contractors.

If you are unable to find answers to your questions about unemployment online, you are encouraged to contact the department by email at uchelp@pa.gov to avoid a long wait on the phone. Keep a copy of the email as a record of your contact.

What’s New?

The Department of Labor and Industry has launched a new online COVID-19 job portal to help Pennsylvanians who are out of work find opportunities with life-sustaining businesses that are hiring. People seeking employment can visit www.PAcareerlink.pa.gov and select the green “PA COVID-19 Jobs – Hiring Immediately” job portal banner to see active job openings. Selecting the “Apply Now” button for a listed position will redirect individuals to the employer’s website or email where they can apply directly with the employer and speed up the hiring process. Life-sustaining businesses can feature their job openings on the portal through an easy to use online form. Businesses must meet the criteria of a life-sustaining business and must have more than 10 job openings.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is offering two new tools to help people ensure they receive their economic impact payments authorized under the federal CARES Act. One tool is for people who don’t normally file a tax return (please note it is not necessary for people who receive Social Security retirement, disability or survivor benefits, or Railroad Retirement and survivor benefits to complete this form, unless you have qualifying children to claim). The tool for non-filers is available here. The second tool is for people who file but need to update direct deposit or mailing address information, or to check your payment status and confirm payment type. That form is available here. Learn more about economic impact payments here.

The Department of Human Services (DHS) is making temporary changes to Pennsylvania’s Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to keep families enrolled in CHIP for the duration of the public health emergency and to ease access to medical services for children being screened or receiving treatment for COVID-19. Read more here.

The Pennsylvania departments of State and Banking and Securities has issued some limited guidance about allowable activities related to residential real estate transactions that were initiated prior to the state’s coronavirus emergency declaration. Read the guidance memo here.

Businesses that collect Pennsylvania sales tax will not have to make Accelerated Sales Tax (AST) prepayments over the next three months. That means businesses that normally have a monthly prepayment requirement will not be charged penalties for missing the prepayment deadline during this three-month period. Read more here.